V is for Velleity

 

April marks the 15th anniversary of my blog, so during the A-Z blogging challenge, I will be sharing previous posts from over 2,100 I have written.

Here is another repost from an A-Z Challenge in 2015. I could add a lot more to the list if I were writing this today. 😀

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V is for Velleity

You know how they say if you are really going to learn a new word, you need to use it. Well, a couple of years ago, I learned velleity, a new-to-me word that I thought was great. I could see using it on a daily basis. However, that never seemed to happen after the first week, and I forgot it until recently. So I'm going to take a stab at it again.
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Velleity 

Velleity---a noun that means to have a wish or desire to do something, but you are not interested in it enough to act on it.

--My desire to revamp the look of my blog was more of a velleity than a real plan.

--Velleity is what keeps me from cleaning up the pile on the bed in the guest room.

Can you think of a way you could use velleity in a sentence?

But wait, there's more.

Here's how you say velleity.
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Until next time...

U is for Use it Up

 

April marks the 15th anniversary of my blog, so during the A-Z blogging challenge, I will be sharing previous posts from over 2,100 I have written.

I did the post below for the 2022 A-Z Challenge. I had forgotten the details of it, so maybe you have, too. Here it is.

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This is a cross-stitch that I did several years ago. I selected it because I liked the saying and the flower detail around the edges. Recently, I began to wonder about the origin of the saying. After a bit of Googling, Barry Popik, who studies the origins of words, enlightened me.

The saying is thought to be a New England proverb seen in print as early as 1933. Earlier versions of the saying were “Eat it up, wear it out, make it do,” and it was widely used during the Great Depression. However, the War Advertising Council modified it and used the saying during World War II to promote the conservation of resources to help the war effort. During this campaign, the wording was changed to "Use it up, wear it out, Make it do, Do without." 

It has been used since then by frugal and environmentally-minded people everywhere. Do you ever quote this saying?

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Until next time...

T is for Today

 

April marks the 15th anniversary of my blog, so during the A-Z blogging challenge, I will be sharing previous posts from over 2,100 I have written.

Through the years, I have occasionally written a Today post. In these posts, I have a picture I have taken, along with reminders of ways I want to live my life better. I liked looking back through these, and I think I should make it a practice again. Below are a few of my Today posts.

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Today, I am going to think about the things outside of me that are gradually affecting my life.

This is part of Wally and Theodore's tree house that Ward built years ago. As you can see, the tree is slowly growing around one of the supports and has pushed up a floorboard. I need to think about whether or not I have a "tree" slowly changing me. Am I letting outside forces determine where I'm going and where I'm going to end up? I'm not sure, but I do know that if I don't think about it, they very well might.

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Today I am going to be organized

 and not run around in circles.

Some days are more productive than others, and it usually involves being organized and having a plan. I have a plan, so I am not going to get dizzy trying to get things done today.

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Today I am going to stand out from the background.

Six-spotted Green Tiger Beetle

Some days it is easier to just go with the flow, but today I am going to put forth the extra effort to stand out from my status quo. I'm going to do that by trying something out of my comfort zone. So many things to choose from...

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Today I am going to step back and look at things from a distance.

Sometimes I get too caught up in the details and forget the big picture. Today, I am going to look from a distance so I can get a new perspective on things.

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Until next time...

S is for a Second Look

 

April marks the 15th anniversary of my blog, so during the A-Z blogging challenge, I will be sharing previous posts from over 2,100 I have written.

I faithfully did Second Look posts every week for years. During this time, I would take a look around my yard and record what I saw. We had 2 acres with many established beds and some wild areas. I loved exploring every week and learned so much about bugs, plants, and animals that visited our yard. I tried continuing the practice when I moved here, but our yard is smaller and tamer than before, so I didn't keep it up. Maybe I should try again.

Below is the post that started it all. This was written in April 2011 and was the second post I ever wrote.

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A Second Look

  

Spring has sprung!  The flowers are emerging from the ground. The pollen is dropping from trees. Plentiful April showers are determined to bring May flowers.

Spring was an enchanted time for my children when we first moved to the four-season climate that we live in now. Up until this point in their lives, they had lived along the Gulf Coast, where the seasons were marked by whether or not you wore a light jacket or were drenched in sweat. The emergence of the crocus, the blooming of the daffodils, and the sprouting of new green leaves were things they had never seen before.  When they came home from school, they would call me out into the yard, and we would go on a treasure hunt to find what new flowers were blooming. It was an exciting time for all as we got to know our new surroundings. This excitement lasted all summer that first year. 

Then, as time wore on and the weeds seemed to be encroaching menacingly on our beautiful flowers, our emphasis changed. We began to notice the weeds more than the flowers. The kids got more interested in video games than plants, and the names that I taught them of the colorful blooming flora in the beginning became the yellow one and the purple one. In other words, our enchantment was gone. Spring moved into the background as all things seem to do after a while.

Then this Spring, we had a taste of that excitement again. While cutting daffodils to bring inside, we discovered that instead of just some white ones and some yellow ones, we actually had 6 different varieties. Who knew? With the second look at the daffodils, we noticed other things growing around them. We noticed which ones bloomed early and which ones were just budding. We noticed which plants the deer had been nibbling on. We noticed the birds. Wow! There's a lot of activity going on outside this time of year if you take the time to notice.

It may not last long, but for just a little while, we were all like the young kids my sons were that first year. I hope we can remember to take a second look at things around us, then and again. Who knows what we'll find?

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But Wait There's More!

A Second Look around my yard at what's new.

First up is the rainbow we saw. Ward said that he thought it was a double rainbow. I didn't see a double one.

The azaleas have bloomed. If you look closely at the next pictures,
 you can see I took them just after it stopped raining.

Azalea

Amsonia

Cherry laural

Lily of the Valley

Iris

Dogwood

Azaleas

Chickadee nest. No eggs yet.

Weather vane on top of our garage.
 Bless asked for a picture, and I finally remembered to take one.

Until next time...

R is for Reasonings

April marks the 15th anniversary of my blog, so during the A-Z blogging challenge, I will be sharing previous posts from over 2,100 I have written.

Over the years, I have shared stories about Wally and Theo when they were young. I found a series of posts I did called The Reasonings of Wally. Below are a couple of them from 2012 and 2013.

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The Reasonings of Wally--Alaska

This happened when Wally was four years old.

Ward and I came home from work and went upstairs with Theo. He sat quietly on the floor, looking at a book, while we changed our clothes and discussed how our days had gone. Soon we went downstairs to join Wally, who was watching Sesame Street. Theo toddled in front of us, and when he reached the kitchen floor, his feet slid out from under him, and I heard a loud crack as his head hit the floor. That was soon followed by loud crying. As I went to see if he was hurt, I slipped too, but fortunately didn't go all the way down. We both had slipped on a wet floor, and luckily, Theo was not badly hurt.

As it turns out, Wally was no longer watching Sesame Street. He was standing in the middle of the family room (next to the kitchen) with the garden hose in his hand, spewing water everywhere. At that point, Ward and I just about lost it. Trying to get control of the situation, I immediately sent Wally to his room and told him to get on his bed and not move until we came to talk to him. Next, while Ward took the hose outside and turned off the water, I dried off Theo and put him in his high chair to keep him out of the way. And then we began the long task of trying to clean up the water. There was about 1/4" of water on the tile floors, and the carpets next to them were soaked. The whole drying process actually took days, but after an hour or so, we had most of the water sopped up.

Then, to deal with Wally. We still found him on his bed. He knew that we were not happy and was afraid to move. After a few sentences about the danger of wet floors and the problems that come with wet carpets, we asked the question we had been wondering about the most.

"Wally, what were you thinking?"
He slowly replied. "Well, my good mind was on vacation in Alaska, and my bad mind said, 'Do it, do it. It will be fun.'"

And there you have it. The reasoning of a four-year-old Wally.

Note: Recently, I was recounting this story to a friend, and she wondered how Wally got the hose if the doors were locked. I just laughed because both of my kids were escape artists.

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Reasonings of Wally

or The Logic of the Young

A conversation with a young Wally.

"Wally, I see you were eating ice cream again without asking first. This has been happening too much lately. I am worried about your lack of willpower."

"Mama, my willpower is usually very good. Except when I get caught."

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Until next time...